Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,477
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,953
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,089
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$49,430
Kept after tax
$40,477
Worth in national money
$45,089
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $49,430. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 16.71% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 244 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,430 you keep $40,477, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,089 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $49,430, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 16.71%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 244 of 473 in West Virginia places substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors on $49,430 is $40,477. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,089 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $53,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,360 |
| This salary | $49,430 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in West Virginia | $40,477 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,897 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,974 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $47,663 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,387 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in West Virginia earn under $49,430 and half over. The published range runs $36,990 at the tenth percentile to $73,360 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,477 take-home in West Virginia comes from $49,430. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 244 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,089, the adjusted value of that $49,430 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 244 of 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,990 to $73,360; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $40,477, from $49,430, assumes a single West Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 244 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $45,089 — the adjusted value of that $49,430 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 244 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $53,820, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,990 at the bottom tenth to $73,360 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $45,089.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,477 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in West Virginia is $53,820. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,990) and the ninetieth ($73,360) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $45,089 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $40,477 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.